The present invention relates generally to painting aids and pertains, more specifically, to a paint brush holder for holding a paint brush suspended in a generally vertical orientation and at a selected altitudinal elevation over the interior of a paint container.
One of the most common and persistent dilemmas faced by individuals who utilize a paint brush to spread paint supplied to the brush from a paint container, such as a paint can or a paint pail, is placement of the paint brush at rest during those periods when painting with the paint brush is interrupted. Usually, such an individual will place the paint brush in or on the container, either oriented vertically, with the bristles of the brush resting against the bottom of the container, or oriented horizontally, with the bristles resting against the rim of the container.
Resting the paint brush in the described vertical orientation can result in the bristles being bent by the weight of the brush, causing permanent damage to the bristles and seriously diminishing the effectiveness of the brush. Moreover, depending upon the depth of paint in the container, the handle of the brush can become immersed in paint, leading to a messy and wasteful follow-up procedure, or the bristles can be exposed, allowing the formation of hardened paint on the bristles, with concomitant diminished brush performance.
Resting the paint brush in the described horizontal orientation exposes the bristles fully to ambient air, allowing the brush to dry out and become essentially useless. In addition, paint can drip from the bristles to the vicinity outside the container, leading to a paint-laden exterior on the container and a messy site.
A wide variety of paint brush holders have been offered over the years in an effort to obviate the problems outlined above. However, these prior devices have been found to exhibit one or more of several drawbacks, namely: they are relatively difficult to attach to and to detach from a paint container, sometimes requiring complex manipulations for proper placement; they are not secure and are unstable when attached to a container; they are designed for a specific can or pail configuration and are not readily adapted to the variety of configurations encountered in the field; they do not allow easy compensation for the level of paint in a container; they are generally cumbersome in construction and awkward in use; they are not economically manufactured and distributed for sale and, consequently, are not offered for sale at a price which most consumers would find attractive.
The present invention provides a paint brush holder having a construction and performance characteristics which alleviate the above-outlined problems. As such, the paint brush holder of the present invention attains several objects and advantages, some of which are summarized as follows: Provides a paint brush holder having a construction adapted for attachment to any one of the several commonly available paint container configurations without requiring modification of the paint brush holder structure; enables secure and stable attachment of the paint brush holder to a container with ease while allowing ready selective detachment; does not interfere with the conduct of normal painting operations; holds a paint brush in a desired vertical orientation over the interior of a paint container at an altitudinal elevation selected in accordance with the level of paint in the container so as to enable suspension of the brush above the paint or, if immersion is desired, to assure appropriate immersion of the bristles of the brush without unwanted bending of the bristles or submersion of the brush handle; provides a brush holder constructed of a minimal number of component parts which are readily manufactured and easily assembled for use in the field; attains ease of use and subsequent clean-up through simplified component parts which are easily assembled for use and disassembled subsequent to use; allows ease of packaging and distribution for enhanced and economical distribution and sale; provides a rugged construction capable of exemplary performance over a long service life.
The above objects and advantages, as well as further objects and advantages, are attained by the present invention which may be described briefly as a paint brush holder for holding a paint brush suspended in a generally vertical orientation over an interior of a container having an essentially cylindrical wall with a rim following a curve along the cylindrical wall, an exterior surface and an interior surface, the paint brush holder being adapted for attachment to the container at the curved rim of the container, the paint brush holder comprising: a basal member extending longitudinally and having altitudinally depending clamp jaws located along a basal curve generally concentric with the curve of the rim of the container, and a support extending laterally for location over the interior of the container when the basal member is placed over the curved rim of the container; and a clip member on the support, the clip member having clip jaws for holding the paint brush in the vertical orientation, the clip jaws extending laterally relative to the support for suspending the paint brush over the interior of the container; the clamp jaws including first clamp jaws spaced apart along the basal curve for engaging one of the interior and exterior surfaces of the container, and at least one second clamp jaw located along the basal curve for engaging the other of the interior and exterior surfaces such that the first and second clamp jaws will attach the basal member in place along the rim of the container.